Thursday 29th June 2017 - Funding opportunites

Posted 2:20pm

I am typing this in the foyer of KPMG - as I have a meeting with Scott at 3pm. But today has been very busy looking at various funding opportunities.

This morning I attended a presentation at Voluntary Action Islington from two potential funders - Cloudesley and the Big Lottery Fund.

Our two projects are very different. Izzwalkz is trying to establish five or six regular weekly health walks in the borough of Islington.  As you know, we have one going that we manage in partnership with Highbury Grange Medical Centre on a Thursday morning in Clissold Park, and we also are in partnership with Highbury Walkers for the walk they lead on a Monday morning in Highbury Fields. However to establish more we have to get funding - and from the presentation it certainly appeared that we tick every box with Cloudesley.  They want to fund small projects that help people who have mental or physical health issues, as well as maybe concentrating on the older generation.

I managed to chat to their representative, David, and have got off a large email to him just now. Naturally, a lot of these charities get a huge numbers of applications, but I like to think that our Izzwalkz program would get a thumbs up.  Certainly, it has been successful - but we need funding to provide the others we want to manage - as we need volunteers, clothing for them, insurance, first aid certificates and equipment, fitness equipment (as we like to not just walk, but also do stretching and exercises), as well as marketing materials such as flyers and posters. We would like to ask for two year of funding to truly establish ourselves, and will probably be applying for between £4500 and £5500 a year - but this would provide 260 walks a year (so around £20 a walk - which is terrific value for the outcomes we want.

Our other project - Ajani - the main program with Mindset, Health and Fitness as a base, would be more suitable for funding from the Big Lottery Fund.  I had a small chat with the lady and we will try and see if we can have a joint application with SHP - they are established and well known, and we have been working with their clients.  It is something I have emailed Joe at SHP about, so we can wait and see.

4:40pm
Meeting with Scott went very well.  We chatted a lot about costings for a program - and providing two different ones - one for full proper funding - and a second to cover further pilots, but with us getting paid for them.  It is a tricky one - as we obviously do not want to short change ourselves, but also don't want to cost ourselves out of the program.

But overall a pretty good day - Luke looked after the walkers and I hope that went well.  I actually missed chatting and laughing with the group.

Wednesday 28th June 2017 - fitness class, "action" course, funding

Posted 2:25pm

Wow! Has it really been nine days since my last entry - time flies - and we are certainly not sitting back. A lot has been going on.

We had a really successful fitness class last Saturday. There were two course attendees - but this is something that will grow and grow.  Dean led us in some fitness exercises and high intensity moves, and then we played a bit of football.  It was not just about exercise though. It was also an opportunity to socialise and get people up and about, and being active.  It went down well.

On Monday we had a good program - it was about taking action and responsibility.. Even in the darkest days, we need to find a way to push ourselves, even if we feel we cant do things. Action builds confidence and energy. We had a couple of games, and then we also did some more stretching exercises.  Next week we are going to do a little boxing - which I think the guys will really enjoy..

Tomorrow I am attending an event being run by Voluntary Action Islington - where they bring funders to present to a group. Its the Big Lottery Fund, and another company called Cloudsley. It will be interesting what they say about how we apply.  Luke is in charge of the walking group tomorrow, and I hope thhe ladies dont destroy him too much!!!  It will be the first Thursday walk I would have missed since we started last November.

We are preparing costs for SHP for running another course or two.  We want to be realistic, but also not short change ourselves.  I am going to lose around a a third of my benefit money soon,, and that will have a knock on effect on our delivery.  I also have responsiibilty towards Luke and Dean, and Kacper too, to get money for the project.

I am looking forward to adjusting a lot of our social media soon - including website.  My guru, Kacper, has been doing exams so I did not want to interrupt that - but now he is free for the summer. Once he is back from holiday we will improve Website, Instagram, Facebook - and look at other avenues.  We also need to push our GoFundMe page - which has had no hits as yet.

Monday 19th June 2017 - Oral Health talk - plus more picnic feedback

Posted 7:15pm

Today, on the project, we had a new venue, a new member, and a lot of sweating in the heat - as well as a talk from the Oral Health Team from Whittington Hospital - photo above.

We have had to move from Grays Inn Road, Kings Cross to Arlington Road in Camden - basing at the SHP Hostel there.  Ironically, when we turned up we bumped into one of the residents in reception, and after a quick chat, and assurance from SHP it was okay, he came along as a new member on the group.

We then had a talk from Jean, from the Oral Health Team - a very interesting presentation. I certainly learnt a few things - and must do better with my own teeth cleaning.

Again, the only frustration we have is numbers coming along.  We are clearly doing well - the feedback has been great - so we need to ascertain exactly why people are staying away.

There was more great feedback from the picnic on Saturday - and totally delighted with responses.

Sunday 18th June 2017 - fantastic picnic/bbq, and fitness videos: plus brilliant Tesco

Posted 10:40pm

Wow - what a fantastic time we had on Saturday in Highbury Fields.  We must have had at least 40-45 different people come along - various organisations and lots of laughs. I was so proud of the whole experience.

Friday night I spent preparing food. I had already gone out and bought a lot of games stuff - which included items we could then use for our HMHB fitness - these included boxing gloves, footballs, frisbees, and badminton.  Then I prepared rounds of ham and lettuce, egg mayonaisse, cheese, and chicken and lettuce sandwiches; home made potato salad; home made green salad; i bought a lot of cakes and fruit and biscuits: plus plenty of water:

Tesco were amazing.  I popped in mentioned we were doing an event, wanted to buy all the food and drink there, and could they help at all - and they gave us £50 of vouchers towards the cost.  Truly fantastic.

Saturday I went out and met up with Chris from CGL, who were doing the barbecue. We bought a lot of meat, some extra tableware and a large melon.  Setting up around 1pm I was unsure how many would come, but in the end everyone had a great time. People from SHP, CGL, Highbury Grange, my Izzwalkz ladies, and a couple of other places came along. It was very hot but overwhelming everyone had a fine time. No alcohol allowed - we had water and squash.

We posted pictures on Twitter and Facebook. And now here.

Thursday 15th June 2017 - Go Fund Me Page

Posted 2:30pm

Above is a screenshot of our GoFundMe page - showing a target of £5000 - but a current balance of zero. I did set up it only yesterday - and can I say that I am very proud of my efforts, as these things do not come naturally to me!!!

I have got the page on Twitter and Facebook - and now need to find a way to publicize it and get it into the public domain.  I can "boost" my facebook posting for a small fee - but need to research ways to get it to the largest number of people and companies that I can.

There are, of course, a huge number of amazing pages on these sites - many of which are truly wonderful and deserve money - I just hope that people can see what we are achieving and give us the opportunity too!!  We all have to start somewhere.

Wednesday 14th June 2017 - funding page active

Posted 4:00pm

We finally got our GoFundMe page active today - I would much prefer to have got a grant or sponsorship, but that's life!!  I know we are new and finding our way, but the overall feedback for the project, which has been excellent, really should mean we should get some funding.

Our page is:       www.gofundme.com/hmhb2016

I do hope people can see what we are doing, and that we just want to improve lies, in a different and proactive way. There are a lot of amazing pages on the site - and we will probably set up a justgiving one too - but maybe we can get somewhere.

I am very excited about our Great GetTogether picnic/bbq on Saturday. We will be buying food and games stuff on Friday, and I think we will get a few people on Saturday.  To actually be running an event is fantastic. If it comes off well it can boost us within the sector.

Tuesday 13th June 2017 - lots of news

Posted 3:50pm

I really must post more often - I feel quite neglectful after seeing it has been a whole week since my last entry - especially as there has been a lot going on.

Firstly, we finally got the confirmation of our grant for the Great Get Together application that we had put in a few weeks ago. The paperwork for this seemed to be endless. Huge thanks must go to my business mentor Scott. The funds will be coming to us, but because of the length of time the application too, coupled with the time for invoice and payments to be made, we would not actually get the grant in time for the picnic/bbq on Saturday 17th June,  Scott has stepped in and loaned HMHB the money, and we will refund him as soon as we get the funding from the council.

We hae teamed up with SHP and CGL (who are supplying the bbq and a lot of expertise in these events). Also we are talking with Highbury Grange Medical Practice, and hope to get 25-35 people attending - part of the funding pays for all the food and drink - and we are also buying some game stuff for the day too.

We have not managed to get our DWP pilot program off the ground - not through any fault of our own. Sadly, the Job Centre and DWP had some kind of internal problem that meant our message did not reach the right people, and there was not enough time to rectify the situation.  We are on our own learning curve too - and these things happen - it is just very frustrating!!.  We will look to do something as soon as possible.  Meanwhile - we will concentrate on getting a funding application in.

The SHP program is going very well. Yes, we only had three people, but they are really pushing themselves, and we can see the progress being made.  Yesterday (week 5) was on "confidence" and the feedback was particularly good. It was an enjoyable session - and everyone went away happy.

We are currently setting up a couple of funding pages (GoFundMe and JustGiving) more details will follow.

Personally, I am really enjoying some Personal Trainer sessions with Dean - I need to push on with my own weight issues. Wayne (from the SHP program) joined us last Friday in Highbury Fields - and it was a great session.

The "to-do" list is still huge - but it is great seeing results happening.

Tuesday 6th June 2017 - Picnic, First Aid, DWP and Nutrition week

Posted 10:10pm
Another solid few days on the project - and time seems to be passing very quickly.

Yesterday we had week four of the course - and it was all about nutrition.  We talked about our normal daily habits - but then stressed that we need to look after our insides just as much as our outsides. We all have control on what we eat and drink.

We looked at proteins, carbohydrates, sugars and fats - and why we need them in our diets and what they do.

We also introduced several new exercises for our fitness.

This morning we had our free First Aid class, which was very kindly donated by the Red Cross - and we have to thank Grant for delivering a fantastic course.  There were four service users, and the input was fantastic. Everyone was joining in, and I have to say Grant led the discussions and information very well.

We have put our invoice in to the council for the Great Get Together picnic we will be running on June 17th.  I signed the agreement today, and we only have 10 days to get everything ready - but I am sure we can do that.

Tomorrow I will be spending the day at Finsbury Park Job Centre gathering service users for our course starting next Tuesday in Highbury. They will apparently be letting me have a desk, and the chance to talk to signees face to face.